Jumper Alphabet
by Scarecrowqueen
Summary: Originally posted on Jumperslash in response to the ABC Jumper Challenge: Pick a word for each letter of the alphabet and write a drabble based on it. Some David/Griffin slash.
1. ABC

Apple (83 words)

The red orb his friend held captive in long, pale fingers was lovely. It could be said the sight was tantalizing, so much so that David suddenly found his mouth dry.

"Forbidden fruit" he found himself murmuring, his eyes darting up to meet Griffin's.

"More than that David." The other man had a strange, intriguing smile on his lips, his gaze centered on David, heavy, dark and unreadable. "Original sin"

With a swift, vicious grin, Griffin took a large bite of the apple.

* * *

Bridges (107 words)

It shouldn't matter, David thought. He was crying anyways, hot tears stinging his eyes and wetting his cheeks. It shouldn't matter that they'd had a fight. It shouldn't matter what they'd said, what they had screamed at each other really, if he was honest. They were friends right? They were the only two Jumpers they knew. Maybe the only two left in the whole world for all they could tell. They had to stick together, didn't they?

But Griffin had told him never to come back. With a sinking feeling, David realized this might just be another one in a long procession of his endlessly burning bridges.

* * *

Cumulonimbus (109 words)

Clouds scudded lazily overhead. The only sounds for miles were the soft wind in the tall, tall grass, and Griffin and David's own breathing. Another day, another battle survived, another small quiet stolen moment. They didn't speak, and beyond them the field stretched on for eons. Two men; alone and alive and free. Times like these were sacrosanct to them, a reason to keep fighting, a reminder of all the good things on earth, and every wonderful thing their mutual gift could give them. All in all, Griffin decided as he surveyed a passing cumulonimbus, he wouldn't have traded the company for all the dead Paladins in the world.


	2. DEF

Degu (114 words)

David blinked in surprise staring at the small rodent. The rodent stared back with large black eyes, frozen and every sense attuned to the recently arrived visitors, appraising the immediate threat level.

"Griffin," David began, "what the heck is that?" The sound of David's voice had startled the creature and it was now fleeing across the wilderness the two men stood in.

"That," Griffin gestured vaguely in the direction of the fleeing rodent, "appears to have been a Degu. They make decent pets you know."

David stared dumbly at Griffin for a moment. "And where exactly have you jumped us now?"

"Chile. Figured why not?" David laughed a little at that, why not indeed?

* * *

Earring (153 words)

On the day David showed up with the earring, Griffin wasn't quite sure what to think. He took a moment to study the small silver hoop in David's earlobe, noting the slightly reddened and swollen skin that indicated that this adornment was brand new. To be honest, Griffin's first impulse was to inform David of how monumentally stupid it was to have something so easily snagged dangling from such a delicate body part, at least when they were still tangling with Paladins whenever the opportunity arose. Griffin naturally being one to follow his first impulse did say so, and after a small argument that descended into a playful scuffle, that subject was dropped in favour of a game of Halo. But secretly, Griffin knew that he'd never tell David that the sight of the bit of metal in his earlobe that day and forevermore would almost beg Griffin's tongue and teeth to it.

* * *

Flattery (217 words)

David sat leaned back on one elbow in the sand, nursing a rapidly-warming beer and watching Griffin draw. The other man was bent, nose almost to the paper, trying to capture the swell of the ocean before them. The secluded stretch of beach they'd commandeered for the day was quite spectacular, and David told Griffin as much, commending him on his excellent find. A moment later, David followed it up with a compliment on Griffin's artwork, the bridge of Griffin's nose going a slight shade of red that couldn't really be attributed to the sun. David found it quite charming overall, and was going to share the thought when Griffins flicked a small handful of sand at him, the grains sliding across David's bare chest to the blanket below.

"Flattery," Griffin declared archly while setting aside his sketchpad, "will get you nowhere." The sun had caught Griffin's hair as he lifted his head and stole David's breath. The reply was on David's lips almost before he was aware of it.

"Not even… here?" David's free hand drifted out to rest his fingertips in a butterfly touch on the waistband of Griffins swim trunks, just below Griffins bare navel. In the golden sunshine their gazes locked and held for an undying moment, like a never-ending exhale of anticipation.


	3. GHI

Godzilla (83 words)

We're watching this Griffin?" David hefted the DVD case in the hand not holding the popcorn bucket. "Really?"

"Course!" Griffin replied, reaching up to steal a handful of the popcorn as David grumbled and set about finding the sweet spot on the couch. "It's a classic, y'know."

"But Godzilla versus Mothra? Seriously?" Griffin just grinned at David and hit the play button. David took a moment to chuck a couple of kernels of popcorn at his friend; then settled in for the movie.

* * *

Hickey (158 words)

"GRIFFIN!" David's bellow drew Griffin away from his makeshift kitchen into the bedroom area in the back of his current lair. David was standing before the small mirror Griffin had mounted, fingering a lovely black mark on his neck.

"Griffin, what the hell is this?" The man in question couldn't hold back his smug smile.

"A hickey, love. Would've figured you'd have known that by now." The tone must have rankled David because he spun away from the mirror to address his boyfriend face-to-face.

"There are teeth marks in it! TEETH MARKS Griffin! I look like the survivor of a bad vampire romance novel!" At this Griffin let out a sharp bark of laughter, before sliding closer and bringing his hands to his irate lover's hips.

"If it bothers you so much, you should see the one you left on my…" Griffin didn't have to finish, the scandalized look on David's face was entertaining enough as it was.

* * *

Improvisation (115 words)

"For someone who's so damn observant when tracking those blasted Paladins, you sure are oblivious in everything else!" With that, David whirled and jumped away, leaving a baffled Griffin in his wake. The befuddled man literally had no clue as to what his friend had been on about before his sudden exit, unless… Slowly, the pieces fell in to place, a pattern emerging in David's behavior toward Griffin in the last few months. Realization dawning, Griffin cursed himself a thousand times the fool before throwing himself through David's fading jumpscar. He had to find the other man and apologize. Or maybe just snog him on the spot and see how it worked out, Griffin was open to improvisation.


	4. JKL

Jenga (111 words)

David watched with rapt fascination was Griffin's deft fingers stacked the wooden Jenga blocks in a square formation. Higher and higher the tower grew until at last the last block was in place. Before David could ask the purpose of the exercise, a gentle shove to the side of the structure had the whole thing tumbling down with a near musical crash, blocks scattering across the tabletop to the floor. David didn't say anything for a moment, focusing on the distant and intent look on Griffin's face. The other man was scrutinizing the fallen tower, but his mind seemed a million miles away.

"Some things," he says slowly, "are better broken."

* * *

Kiss (43 words)

"Here Griffin." David proffers a small foil wrapped treat. Griffin takes it delicately, turning it over in one hand.

"A chocolate kiss David?"

"Placebo." David responds flippantly, a brazenly suggestive look on his face, and Griffin's smile is slow and sweet like molasses.

* * *

Licorice (143 words)

David watches the scene in front of him with open contempt. Griffin is holding a bright red licorice strand hostage and a firm grip, teasingly nibbling off both ends, before sticking it merrily in his chocolate milk and slurping the beverage through it like a straw.

"That's utterly disgusting, really and truly." Griffin notes that David actually looks a little green about the gills. After another long, noisy suck, Griffin replies.

"S' what they were made for, really. The best part is eating the licorice at the end."

"And I kiss you with that mouth?" David is staring aghast at his boyfriend, and definitely green now. Griffin debates on adding another point in his favour in his mental tally of victories, but sometimes, like now, they just come to easy. He settles for a rakish grin and another swallow of his drink instead.


	5. MNO

Before this chapter I'd like to say that none of the quotes are mine, they are borrowed from Milan Kundera, best known for writing "The Unbearable lightness of Being."

* * *

Metaphor (183 words)

"Tomas did not realize at the time that metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.**"**

David looked up from his crossword, squinting his eyes to read the cover of the book Griffin had just quoted. When he failed to from across the room, he abandoned his seat at what passed for a kitchen table in the lair and moved to the couch Griffin had sprawled over, hovering next to the arm his friend had laid his head on.

"Milan Kundera?"

"Czech novelist and poet in the mid 1900's."

"Ah. Any reason for that particular line to catch your eye?"

"The first time I ever saw you, before I even knew you, I thought your smile was pure daylight in a dark place." Griffin hadn't even looked up from his book during his bold declaration, and David was frozen and speechless, slowly putting two and two together for the resounding four. Before he had a chance to reply, Griffin was quoting again. "When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object."

* * *

Novel (169 words)

When Griffin returned to the lair after grabbing some takeout, David had stolen his spot on the couch and was busy making headway into the novel Griffin had quoted from not half and hour earlier. The other man hadn't looked up at Griffin's arrival, and after leaving the food on the table and lurking over his friend for a solid ten minutes in silence, Griffin could stand being ignored no longer. A quick shrug had his favorite leather jacket on the floor; a tug had his shirt joining it. It wasn't until he'd started on his belt that David looked up at him, eyes full of meaning.

"Eroticism is like a dance: one always leads the other."

Griffin smiled, the boy could be taught after all. Reaching a hand out, Griffin pulled David to his feet, the novel forgotten on the couch. Face to face, chest to chest, Griffin put his hands on David's hips and leaned to whisper in his ear. "Then by all means, let me lead."

* * *

Ourselves (89 words)

Their coupling was rough and unrestrained, but surprisingly tender. David had allowed Griffin to lead the dance, and couldn't deny it had been the right choice. When it was over, their immediate passions cooled but not dimmed, they lay together in a heady embrace taking over every inch of Griffin's generous bed in a long-limbed tangle. It was only then in that muzzy half-awareness that Griffin spoke again.

"Love is a desire for that lost half of ourselves." David only tightened his grip on his new lover and smiled.


	6. PQR

Porn (193 words)

Of all the things David had been expecting when he jumped into what passed as Griffin's living room, this wasn't it. The obscene noises from the two men fornicating on the screen drew David's attention first. Right after that was the leather jacket to the face, thrown by Griffin.

Who was currently sitting on the couch.

Hurriedly zipping his pants.

Not to mention he was swearing at David with language that could make a trucker blush, at least from what he could recognize. Some seemed to be in Spanish and Chinese. David blinked.

"Um, bad time?" Something on the screen caught David's eye, mostly because he was trying to look anywhere but at his friend. "Is that a goat? Why is there a goat?" Griffin's scowl could have melted glass.

"Fuckin' right it's a bad time, and it's a taxidermied sheep and its décor, not a participant! Now _GET OUT!_" David heeded the command and turned to jump away, but before he did, he couldn't resist a parting shot over his shoulder.

"Hey Griffin are all gay men that flexible?" David jumped just in time to miss the remote aimed at his head.

* * *

Quarantine (260 words)

When David hadn't been around to harass him for a few days, Griffin decided it was time to check on him. Not out of concern or anything, nothing like that, naturally. It just seemed odd somehow, to not have all six foot and then some of smarmy American lurking about the lair. Arriving in David's pad, it was clear that something was up. There were dishes stacked in the sink, half a pot of chicken soup congealing on the stove and a massacred box of Kleenex in the living room. Taking the hint, Griffin checked the bedroom. Under about eighty blankets and snuffling miserably was David, letting out the occasional feeble cough and making generally unhappy noises.

"What's this then, H1N1? Swine flu? Ebola? Do you need a quarantine?" David spluttered weakly from inside his cocoon.

"F'ck off Griff, let me die in peace." A hacking cough seemed to lend credence to the statement, and without a word Griffin obeyed. David dozed fitfully for a time after his departure, until the noise of movement next to his bed roused him. Blearily opening an eye, he watched mystified as Griffin set down first a cup of orange juice, then a bowl of soup. Griffin walked out of the room, and returned a moment later with a bottle of water and a package of cold medication. David felt oddly touched by Griffin's concern.

"Griffin, you didn't have to…" the man in question cut him off.

"Just don't expect me to feed you too." Griffin grumbled while he helped his friend sit up.

* * *

Reason (117 words)

Another fight again today and Griffin hated it when they fought, although he never let it show. Nothing felt quite the same anymore, not since David had tromped into Griffin's life and set up shop like he belonged there. Griffin supposed he did, after a fashion, brother in arms and all that jazz. But as good of a team as they made, sometimes just sometimes, mostly when they argued, Griffin wished be could make David understand his reasons for fighting, for killing, for everything. But Griffin didn't know how to say any of it, how to bare his soul and ask to be understood.

Griffin didn't even know himself when David became the biggest reason of all.


	7. STU

Sketchbook (171 words)

It never failed. Every time David crashed in Griffin's new lair, an increasingly frequent occurrence, Griffin took the opportunity to draw him. Usually passed out on Griffin's too-small couch, the Jumper was perfectly still, flawless face and long limbs invoking the artist in Griffin in way's he'd never felt before. It was a constant struggle for Griffin to accurately capture the lines of his body, the grace of his arms and legs, the play of shadows and light on his face. David was always beautiful, but Griffin only drew him when he slept. Mostly because David didn't know about the sketchbook Griffin kept full of nothing but character studies of David himself. The other was because when he slept, his eyes were closed. Griffin was loathe to admit, and secretly heartbroken by the fact that hours of practice had never once yielded a passable imitation of David's gorgeous eyes. Despite this, Griffin had never stopped trying, even if he had to burn all the pitiful, failed attempts in frustration and sorrow.

* * *

Team (175 words)

The Paladin snarled, charging at Griffin. The Brit rolled his eyes and simply jumped behind him and giving him a solid kick to the backside. Unable to stop his momentum, the man stumbled forward, straight into David's waiting right hook. As the Paladin went down hard, David heard the tell-tale whine of the electric prod a bare second before it caught him beneath the shoulderblade. Hissing in pain, he spun only to see his partner grab the man, reappearing on the roof of a nearby gas station and sending the Paladin to meet the unforgiving concrete below. A moment later, David was next to Griffin, surveying their handiwork below.

"Think that one's still alive?" Griffin asked casually, jerking his chin in the direction of the one he'd kicked into David. The man being questioned shrugged.

"We'd have to check. Had a rock in my fist, though." He then grinned at Griffin through a lip split by a lucky shot. "Limited run or not, we make a pretty good team." Griffin snorted, but secretly he agreed.

* * *

Unrequited (209 words)

David loved the way Griffin's hair curled a little at the place behind his ear, and sometimes at his temples. He liked the musical British accent, even when the other Jumper was using it to inflict maximum sarcasm. Actually, Griffin's sarcasm was another thing he loved about the other man; it was practically his first language, and pretty funny when you weren't the one on the receiving end.

Griffin was a strange contradiction who seemed to barely tolerate David's presence, and David's feelings for him were completely unrequited.

Griffin loved David's hands, they were elegant and graceful and always gentle, unless he was fighting, then they were surprisingly powerful weapons at his disposal. At least now that Griffin had shown him something beyond the basic "hit the other guy with your fist" technique that David had been using. Griffin actually admired how good of a student David had been, calm ad patient and willing to do the same motions a hundred times until they were right, and as smooth as reflex. The shining smile David gave him every time he nailed something new was wonderful, too.

David was a strange combination of arrogance and kindness that never failed to intrigue Griffin, and Griffin's feelings for him were completely unrequited.


	8. VWX

Vocation (70 words)

David isn't sure when it happened, but at some point he'd fallen in with Griffin. At some point he'd given up his previous consequence-free, hedonistic lifestyle for drab lairs and snotty Brits. At some point watching Griffin's back had become more instinct than anything.

At some point killing Paladins had become his full-time job. As long as Griffin was still breathing next to him though, David couldn't say he minded.

* * *

Wonderment (111 words)

The sun climbs above the horizon slowly, lazily, streaking the sky with vivid hues as far as the eye can see.

"Like God went fingerpainting." David remarks to his companion. Griffin hums slightly in response, for once lacking a sarcastic comeback. The morning rays throw ribbons of sun and shadow along the contours of his face and turn the blonde highlights in his hair into a molten blaze of gold. For a moment David is frozen in time, transfixed, until the other man speaks.

"World was made for moments like this." Although Griffin's eyes never leave the sunrise, David's eyes never leave him as he finds himself speechlessly nodding in agreement.

* * *

Xerox (89 words)

They're arguing again, and Griffin's angry. It shows in the tense lines of his shoulders, the rapid, jerky motions of his hands, and in the snarl in his voice.

"Call me whatever you like David, say whatever cruelties you will about me, but never, NEVER accuse me of being a fake, or a cheap imitation! I'm a complete original fresh from the packaging." Griffin stops pacing in ire, taking a moment to make eye contact and spread his arms wide. "No copies here mate, and don't you forget it!"


	9. YZ

Yonder (145 words)

Sometimes it felt to David that Griffin was a thousand miles away. No, further than that really. A thousand miles was nothing to a Jumper. A thousand miles was an eye-blink, a breath, no, the spaces between breathing. A thousand miles was a grain of sand, a drop in an ocean. A thousand miles was only a thought away, only a wish, only a hope. No, there was no distance on Earth that could convey how far away he felt from the other Jumper most days. The distance would have to be measured in light-years, maybe. How far could a Jumper jump, anyways? To the moon? To the sun? To the middle of space in the empty blackness where the stars don't shine? David didn't know, he'd never tried. He doubted that it would bring him any closer to Griffin anyways, even if he could.

* * *

Zombie (90 words)

Griffin watches totally amused, as David trips over the same running shoe for the third time. Cursing, the taller man kicks at the offending object before staggering away, nearly smacking his shoulder off the doorway while doing so. A little ways down the hall, Griffin can hear a muffled thud, and the sound of further cursing. With a smile and a bit of a chuckle, he turns away to busy himself with further charting the Paladin's movements.

Without a doubt, David was the funniest non-morning person Griffin had ever met.


End file.
